Uncovering the wounds

Two weeks ago I sprained the joint between my hip and my spine; the sacroiliac to be exact…I could barely walk, let alone lay down. Even sleep hurt…rest was almost out of the question. Today, the chiropractor was treating me (I am much better if you wanted to know) when she noticed the a muscle was so tight that my arms were actually different lengths. After treatment I was all back to normal but something the chiro said struck me: Often when you injure yourself it reveals other issues that you hadn’t taken the time or slowed down enough to notice. She went onto say that often we’re much harder on ourselves then we realise.

As I walked home those words lingered in my mind. How often does it happen that it takes a seemingly bigger problem or circumstance that suddenly opens up a whole world of hurt, pain and other issues. It’s as if losing your job, getting a bad grade, breaking up, or even injuring yourself can reveal the issues that are deeper down inside. Personally, I was making myself go crazy trying to understand why one situation was making me so miserable…then I realised that it simply stopped me from moving so fast in life and not resting enough to take time and let God (and me) deal with all that which I’d covered up in the past.

It’s so important that we take time to stop, rest and understand what is going on in our hearts. It’s too easy to keep yourself busy and cover up what is going on inside your heart. It’s kind of like sweeping the dust under the carpet. Eventually that pile of dust is going to get so big you’re going to trip over the carpet and all the dust flies out.

A few years ago a dear friend gave me a good illustration of this…she said…picture a long, narrow, gravel path; this is life. You’re walking along and you pass a huge boulder. You can either clammer over it and keep going, ensuring that it’s still in your life, or you can stop, work through it and polish it until it becomes a beautiful jewel.

I am so guilty of rushing through each day, trying to get to the other, clambering past my boulders and ignoring them that I leave the dusty, mess behind me…my challenge this week (and continually) is to stop, take a moment and make sure that instead of big rocks hidden away, I’ll have beautiful jewels.